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Mother’s Day coming up, I thought this would be a great time to test a new version of banana bread before serving Mother’s Day brunch!

I started with my usual banana bread recipe. Usually, I just add the 1/4c chopped walnuts. The special twist this time is adding a 1/4c of milk chocolate chips along side the walnuts. I love chocolate! To make this extra special (as if chocolate wasn’t enough), I topped off the banana bread with a streusel topping before putting it in the oven.

The streusel is as follows:

Mix 1/4c flour and 1/3c brown sugar.
Cut in 2tbsp cold butter with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

I stopped there and sprinkled it on top of my bread mixture. You could add 1/3c chopped walnuts to the streusel for added crunch.

The crunchy, sweet streusel creates a great layer of contrast to the moist, delicious banana bread. I absolutely love the little pockets of melted chocolate throughout! So tasty and surprisingly, not to sweet! Anyone else try a banana bread makeover? What changes do you make?

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I haven’t had Ovaltine since I was a kid and I remember always liking Nestle Qwik so much more. I guess when you put the two canisters side by side at the store, the kids will always choose the one with the bunny on it! Over the weekend, I came across the same dilemma while standing in the aisle… this time I was thinking more like a parent and the bunny was WAY less convincing. I chose the Ovaltine… the kids won’t know the difference (just don’t show the container).

As a sweet treat for the kids, I doctored up some Chocolate Banana Shakes using Ovaltine!

8-9 ice cubes

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons Ovaltine

2 ripe bananas; peeled & sliced

I blended these until smooth and it’s ready to serve.

The kids really think it’s a shake! It makes enough to get 3-4 drinks and the kids loved it! The best part is.. I had everything on hand. Cheers to Summertime Sweets!

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I realized awhile ago that I didn’t actually own a cookie jar. It seemed strange that someone who loves to bake so much wouldn’t own a staple as simple as a cookie jar. A kind friend pointed out that perhaps its because my cookies are so good that they don’t stick around long enough to make it to a jar. I’d love to say that was the case…

My Grandmother was generous enough to give me one recently. Its a glass jar with “Mother’s Cookies” imprinted on it. Classic.

So this rainy spring day, since we’re stuck inside I thought I’d do my best to fill my new jar…

These cookies are probably some of the simplest I’ve ever made…and the tastiest.

You’ll need:1 box of devil’s food cake mix (I used Pilsbury brand because it includes pudding in the mix)2 eggs1/3 cup vegetable oil1 bag of Rolos (you’ll need approximately 36, so feel free to taste test)

Mix everything but the Rolos. You’ll want to use a scooper for this one so that the cookies are the same size and cook consistently. Scoop some of dough and press a Rolo into the center. Gently fold the excess dough over the top and then roll it into a ball (like play dough). They bake quickly. My oven got the job done in about 8 minutes set at 350 degrees. Let them rest for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack, or they will break.

Once cooled the centers will still be very moist and the caramel chewy and delicious!

My hubby, who isn’t as fond of the sweets as I am, loved these. Of course the kids couldn’t keep their hands off them either. And I may have had a few myself…

The countdown to Thanksgiving has begun. There are so many reasons for me to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my family, our health, my job, and so much more! What are you thankful for this year? I can’t wait for Thursday! My In-laws make the best Thanksgiving dinner. There is always one complaint from my husband, never about the dinner…just dessert. Traditionally, we always have apple pie and pumpkin pie, no complaints here because I love both! My husbands favorite pie is pecan pie and every year I make him his own pie for Thanksgiving.

I have made many different recipes for pecan pie. I tried traditional pecan pie, Paula Deen’s bourbon pecan pie…each tastes great! I recently found a recipe that may be the best yet! Bourbon, Chocolate & Walnut Pecan Pie and the recipe was right under my nose, in my cookbook, “It’s all American Food” by David Rosengarten.

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oddly enough i wanted chocolate truffles in the middle of the day so i decided to save some money and use what I had around the kitchen. even odder was that i had the majority of the ingredients in my cabinet:

over medium heat and in a small sauce pan, bring the pinch of salt, heavy cream, and orange zest just to a boil.

remove from heat quickly and add chocolate and the grand marnier.

stir until the mixture is smooth… you’ve made ganache! you could stop here and just eat but the fun part comes when you try to make martha stewart perfectly round balls! good luck.

chill the ganache until you can roll into balls.

roll into balls quickly then drop into the cocoa powder and chill.

my husband did not like the cocoa powder coating but i did. just the other day i had a truffle with sugar powder coating and it was slightly sweet and mixed nicely with the dark chocolate. i know it will pair very well with the grand marnier and maybe lighten up the bitterness of the orange zest. i am no cocoa-connoisseur but i am practicing.